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(No Model.) B-Sheets-Sheet 1.

B. L. STOWEQ WARP KNITTING MACHINE. No. 486,648. Patented Nov; .22; 1892.

WITNESSES INVENTOR m5 NoRms PETERS c0, PNOTQLITHQ, wnsnmc'rom n. c,

(No Model.) 3 S h-eets-Sheet 2.

I B. L.. STOWB'.

WARP KNITTING MACHINE.

No; 486,648. Patented Nov. 22,1892.

o .INVENTOR' No Model.).'-'

Patented Nov, 22, 1892;

IN VENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN 'L. STOWE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO J. VAN D. REED, OF SAME PLACE.

WARP-KNITTING MACHINE.

v SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 486,648, dated November 22, 1892.

Application filed February 3, 1882. Serial No ,815. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.- of the improved knitting-machine, taken on Be it known that I, BENJAMIN L. STOWE, line 4 4, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a central sectional residing at New York,in the county and State View of a portion of the machine. Figs. 6 and of New York, have invented new and useful 7are views illustrating mechanism that is em- 5 Improvements in WVarp-Knitting Machines, ployed in connection with this machine, when 53 of which the following is a specification. it is desired to insert a weft into the fabric.

My invention relates to the class of ma- Fig. Sis a detail view. chines known as the straight-bar knitting- A and A are the supporting side frames. machines, and is to a certain extent an adap- B is the needle-bed. 1o tation to a straight machine of certain parts of C are the vertical needles. the mechanism embodiedin the circular-knit D are the horizontal needles; E, the main ting machine, described in the specification driving-shaft; E, the driving-pulleys of the of Letters Patent No. 221,628, granted to me machine, and A and A are portions of the November 11, 1879, in combination with cerframe supporting the driving-shaft and the 15 tain other new and original devices. This rod F. machine, like the said circular machine, 'em- The needle-bed B ismade of a nearly-square ploys two sets of needles, the needles of one bar, except that it has a narrow longitudinal set being placed at right angles to those of the tongue B near its center, upon the front side, other set, in such relative positions that the and a wide longitudinal tongue B which 20 needles of one set would pass through the reaches half-wayacross itstop from the front. spaces between the needles of the other set if This needle-bed B is bolted securely at its reboth sets were advanced simultaneously. The spective ends to one or the other of the arms loops formed by both sets of needles are made A or A The needle-guide bar D is cut in upon one and the same side of the fabric its lower side into narrow lateral grooves d,

25 knitted, and longitudinal strands arelaid into one for each of the horizontal needles D, and the fabric and retained by the looped stitches it is fastened upon the top of the wide tongue in a manner similar to the one described in B of the needlebed, forming the guides the specification of the aforesaid Letters Patthrough which the horizontal needles work. cut. In most other respects the improved The needle-guide bar 0' has a lip 0 upon its 0 straight-bar knitting-machine differs materiinner side, and through the lipc and into the ally from the said circular machine, both in inner side of the bar itself are cut narrow latform and principle. eral grooves 0', one for each of the vertical In this improved machine as many separate needles. The bar 0 is fastened to the nar-. and distinct warp-threads are employed as row tongue B, the bottom of the bar 0 and 5 there are needles in the machine, and each the bottom of the tongue being placed upon warp is fed alternately to either one or the a plane with one another, so that a considerother ofthe two contiguous needles of the parable open space is formed between the neeticular set to which the warp-thread belongs, dle-bed B and the guide-bar O to permit the and also the needles of each set are allsupfree play of the latches of the vertical nee- 4o plied with yarn and all form their stitches dles. The guide-bar O is chamfered off upon simultaneously, which being done at the same its top and outer side to permit the knitted time with the laying in of the longitudinal fabric to pass away easily from the needle at warps, produces a fabric entirely different the point 0 where it is formed. The lip c from that produced by the aforementioned gives greater depth to the guide-grooves c at 5 circular-knitting machine. this point 0 In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side eleva- The needle-bar G into which the vertical tion of my improved knitting-machine. Fig. needles are fastened, and the needle-bar D 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a into which thehorizontal needles are fastened, sectional elevation ofapart of the same. Fig. are alike, and each one is made of a long- T 50 4 is a horizontal sectional view of a portion fiat bar, which has a reciprocatory motion up I00 and down in the guideways g in the vertical cross-arm G or in or out in the guideways 71 in the cross-arm H, according as it is the vertical orthe horizontal bar. The reciprocatory motion is imparted to these bars (3 and D by the cams J upon the main driving-shaft E by means of the levers E and E ,fi1lcrmnedupon the rod F, and the connecting-links E and E The connecting-links E and Eflofwhich there is one pivoted loosely upon each end of each of the needle-bars C and D (the needle-bars being turned down for that purpose and to enter the guideways g and 7a,) are bifurcated at their lower or rear ends, so as to straddle the end of the lever E or E to which they belong and to which they are loosely pinned. The cam J has a grooveJ' cut into its face, into which the small friction-rollers J revolving upon studs in the ends of the levers EE project. The groove J is concentric with the axis of thecamJ for rather more than half the cams circumference, but approaches and recedes again from the center in the remaining portion, so that while the levers E and E are at rest in a position which holds the needles withdrawn for rather more than half the-cams revolution, they move to advance and recede the needles during the remaining portion of the revolution. (See Fig. 3.) The roller J upon lever E and the roller J upon lever E enter the groove J of the cam J upon opposite sides of the shaft E, so that the vertical needles and horizontal needles alternate one with the other in their periods of motion and rest. The connecting-links E and E are each made in two parts. (See Fig. 8.) That part which is pivoted. to the needle-bar is drilled longitudinally, and there is a female thread out within it. The part which has the bifurcated end is turned down and has a screwcut upon it which fits the female thread out within the other part of the link. This is to permit a slight adjustment of the throw of the needles by removing the pin E and slipping the bifurcated end clear of the lever E or E and turning its screw out of or into the other part of the link, so as to lengthen or shorten the link E, as may be desired. Narrow lateral slots 0 or d, to receive the needles C or D, are cut into one side of the needle-bars C and D A longitudinal dovetail groove of a somewhat less depth than the lateral groove 0 or d is also cut into the same side. A dovetail piece C or D is fitted to fill all of the longitudinal groove abovethe surface of the needles. Small set-screws as, one for each needle, are set through the dovetail piece C or D so that each needle is held firmly in its position by the said screw.

The yarn-guide bar I, which guides the warp-yarns to the hooks of the vertical needles O and the similar bar K, which guides other yarns to the horizontal needles D, each consists of a long slender rod, through which a series of eyes iand 7c is drilled, there being one eye for each needle of the set to which the guide-bar I or K belongs. There is preferably one eye 2' or It more in the guide-bar I or K than there are needles in the corresponding set C or D.

The yarn-guide bar I, which supplies the vertical needles with yarn is placed so that the hooks of the vertical needles pass close against its side and at such a height that the said hooks rise to the vicinity of its upper side. This said guide-bar I is supported and held in posit-ionlaterallyby the vertical crossbars G, through a slot in each of which it passes.

A drumL controls the position of the yarnguide bar I longitudinally by means of a stud and friction-roller Z, projecting from the end of the guide-bar I into groove Z cut into the periphery of the drum L. This drum L is arranged to give four periods of rest to the bar, during each of which periods each eye 2' in the bar I is midway between two contiguous needles (J, and four periods of motion, two in succession in one direction and two in succession in'an opposite direction, and each of these steps is equal to the distance from one needle to the next adjacent one, so that the maximum amount of longitudinal motion imparted to the said guide-bar I is equal to the distance from one needle to the second needle away from it. The first step of this longitudinal motion of the yarn-guide bar I is taken just as the needles C begin to rise, the second and final one while the needle is in its highest position.

The yarn-guide bar K guiding the warpyarns to the horizontal needles D is similar in its construction to the one just described, and is located and operates relatively to the horizontal needles D, the horizontal cross-bar H, and the cam L in a manner similar to that in which the guide-barI is located, and operates in relation to the verticalneedles U, the vertical cross-bar G, and the said cam L, the 'periods of rest and of motion of the two yarn-V guides I and K varying to correspond with the periods of restand of motion of the system of needles C or D to which the said yarnguides respectively belong. This required va-.

riation in the time of movement between the yarn-guide bar I and the like bar K necessary to make each conform with the movement-of its respective set of needles is, given by the different positions in the circumference of the cam L at which the friction-rollers Z and Z of the respective guide-bars I or K enter the groove Z, they being set one-quarter of the cams circumference apart, so that although they are both moved at one and the same time one of them is one step in advance of the other in the order of its movement. An arm A, somewhat similar to the arms A and A of the frame, and running parallel with them, is bolted upon the outside of one of the side frames A, and aifords support to the cam L and atrain of spur-gearing L, (see Fig. 4,) which connects the said cam L with the driving-shaft E, from which it derives its motion. This cam L revolves at one-half the speed of the main driving-shaft E.

of the hooks of the needles; but in this case.

the hooks must necessarily pass entirely through the said grooves and beyond the yarnguide bars to permit such bars to move.

The guide-bar G for guiding the longitudinal warps into their proper positions is similar in its construction to the yarnguide bars I or K; but, unlike them, it has no longitudinal motion, being permanently fastened to the front face of the vertical cross-bar G near the top of said bar. It is intended to guide the longitudinal warps into the fabric that is being constructed in a position just in front of the vertical needles.

The three warp-beams N, N, and N Figs. 1 and 2one N for supplying warp to the Vertical needles and one N for the longitudinal strands and one N for supplying warp to the horizontal needles and the cloth-beam N for receiving the knitted fabricare all alike and all receive motion in a similar manner. The

M, M, M and M upon which they rest, each consists of a plain cylinder having a straight shaft for its axis. The shafts of the frictionrolls M, M, M and M have each a bearing at either end in the frame A and A, and one end of the shaft projects sufficiently beyond the frame A to carry a ratchet-wheel m. The shaft of each of the beams N, N, N and N is shorter and enters guideways w, cut in the bosses of the frame A and A, the said guideways a being deep enough to permit the whole weight of the beam to rest upon the frictionroller M and being open at the top to facilitate the removal of the beams. Motion is given to all of the friction-rolls M, M, M and M and through their agency to the beams by means of the ratchet m, pawl m, lever m connecting-rods m and eccentric m upon the main driving-shaft E. The amount of motion transmitted to the rolls M is regulated to a certain extent by the slot m in the lever 'm and the bolt m which permits the end of the connecting-rod m to be connected either nearer to or farther from the center of the ratchet.

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate mechanism that may be used in connection with this machine when it is desired to insert weft-threads into across the machine in a direction parallel with the yarn-guide bars I and K. This bar 0, which I denominate the weft-guide bar,

has a number of oblong tubes 0, (as shown in the drawings, one for every three of the horizonta1needles,) which project downward from the lower face of the said guide-bar until their ends, which are Well rounded, are about upon a level with the center of the horizontal needles. The oblong tubes 0 are set with their greater diameters parallel with the horizontal needles, and it is requisite that whenever the sliding weft-bar O is at a standstill the tubes shall be in such a position that the horizontal needle D may be advanced without striking them. The weft-guide bar 0 is drilled to correspond with the openings through the center of the tubes 0', so that the weft-yarns may be led from an additional beam similar to the warp-beams N, N, and N down behind the longitudinal warp-guide bar G and through the aforesaid weft-guide bar 0 and oblong tubes 0 and into the fabric between certain of the horizontal needles D. An additional cam Pis placed upon the same shaft as the cam L. This cam P has a groovep cut into its periphery, into which a stud p and friction-roller, which project from the weftguide bar 0, enter. The cam P is arranged to give two periods of rest and two of motion to the weft-guide bar 0, the motion which is communicated consisting of one forward and one backward step. The two points of mo tion are directly opposite to one another upon beams N, N, N and N and the friction-rolls the cams circumference, and either one or the other of the two steps is taken each time and 'while the horizontal needles are withdrawn.

The amount of motion is preferably equal to the distance which the oblong tubes 0 are set apart; but such amount of motion is governed entirely by the cam P, and may be arranged as desired, and even a larger cam, which shall be set upon a separate shaft and have a separate connection with the drivingshaft E in order that it may be driven at a slower speed, may be employed to give an irregular amount of motion to the weft-guide bar 0 when desired, the said cam P in this case having its groove 19 cut irregularly, of course care being taken to have the weftguide bar 0 move only while the horizontal needles are withdrawn.

The operation of this machine is as follows, supposing all the warp-beams N, N, and N to be supplied with warp, the yarns from the beam N leading through the eyes in the yarn- 1 guide bar Ito be supplied to the vertical needle O, the yarns from the beam N leading through the eyes in the yarn-guide bar K to be supplied to the horizontal needles D, the

yarns from the beam N leading through the guide-bar G and down in front of the vertical needles 0 for the longitudinal strands, and, further, supposing that sufficient fabric has been knitted to reach down behind the clothbeam N and friction-roll M and around the friction-roll M to its top, where it passes between thesaid roll M and the beam N and then around the beam N to which its end is fastened. The warpslead from all the beams in a similar manner, to wit: They are wound upon their respective beams, passing between the said beams and the friction-rolls and down in front of the friction-rolls to their proper guides, as previously described. Now we will suppose that the hooks of the vertical needles C have each just seized a yarn leading from the yarn-guide bar I and are descending and that the yarn-guide bar I is at rest in its extreme right-hand position, in which case the horizontal needles D will be withdrawn and the yarn-guide bar K will be in its central position. Immediately after the vertical needles 0 reach their lowest point the horizontal needles D will begin to advance. lVhen their hooks about reach the eyes in the yarn-guide bar K, the said yarnguide-bar K will begin to move toward the right, and before the horizontal needles D have been out to their most forward position and returned again sufficiently to bring their hooks upon a line with the eyes in the yarnguide bar K the yarn-guide bar K will have reached its extreme right-hand position. Simultaneously with the moving of the yarnguide bar K to the right the yarn-guide bar I will have moved one step to the left for the purpose of preventing the yarns leading through it from being seized again by the hooks of the same needles C which last seized them, when the hooks again come up. The horizontal needles D will now be withdrawn, their hooks each seizing a yarn as they recede, and the vertical needles 0 will rise until their hooks reach the level of the eyes in theyarn-guide bar I,when the said yarn-guide bar I will begin moving and will continue its movement until it reaches its extreme lefthand position just before the hooks of the needles 0, which in the meantime have risen to their highest position, get again to the level of the eyes i in the yarn-guide bar I. Simultaneously with this movement the yarnguide bar K will have taken one step to the left. The hooks of the vertical needles will now each seize a yarn; but in consequence of the previous movement of the yarn-guide bar I two steps to the left an individual needle will not seize the same yarn that it seized the last time it was up, but the next yarn upon theleft of that one. The firststep of the movement of the yarn-guide bar I having carried the yarns to theleft of the needles C,upon which they were previously knitted, and the second and final step having carried them to theleft of the next needle to the left of the one just mentioned, the vertical needles will descend and the horizontal needles will advance, and when they arrive at the proper position, as previously described, the yarn-guide bar K will take its second step to the left, and the yarns will be led to one needle to the left of the one which they were led to for the previous stitch by a process similar to that described for a like purpose in connection with the vertical needles. The yarns will now each lead from the hooks of the needles to which they have been respectively supplied to the last stitch formed by the same yarns, which will now be at the knitting-point c and upon the needles next to the right of the ones just supplied. As aresult of this the longitudinal warp-threads, which run from the guide-bar G into the fabric between the horizontal needles, will each have a yarn crossing from one needle to another in front of it, which when the horizontal needles are Withdrawn and form their stitches will cause the said longitudinal strands to be bound firmly into the fabric by such stitches. The further progressof the work of the machine will be but a repetition of the methods just described. The stitches will be formed alternately upon the vertical and horizontal needles, the yarn-guide bars I or K moving at the required times and in harmony wit-h the system of needles to which they respectively belong and the longitudinal warps being bound in by the operation of the horizontal needles. The individual needles 0 or D will form stitches alternately from one or the other of two contiguous yarns, the feeding devices connected with the friction-rolls N, N, and N will cause the warp to be fed off the Warp-beams M, M, and M at the requisite speed, and thelike devices, in connection with the cloth-beam M, will cause the knitted fabric to be taken away from the needle as it is knitted, all by the means and in the manner previously described.

The operation of the weft-supplying devices illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 is as follows, supposing the horizontal needles to be withdrawn and to have j ustfinished formingtheirstitches, and that a weft-yarn leads from each of the oblong tubes 0 back and into the fabric at a point directly behind the tube 0 from.

which it comes. Now if the weft-guide bar 0 is moved along a certain distance the tube 0 will carry the weft-yarns along until each one will reach diagonally across the path, through which a number (according to the amount of travel of the weft-guide bar 0) of the horizontal needles will advance, the tubes 0' being short enough (their well-rounded ends assisting) to prohibit them as they move along from catching the warp-strands that extend from the warp-guide bars K to the horizontal needles; but yet long enough so that as the horizontal needles advance they will pass over the diagonally-extended weft-threads. All of this operation is performed back of the longitudinal warps, so that when the horizontal needles return and form the stitches, which will bind the longitudinal warps into the fabric the weft-thread will also be bound into the fabric jointly by the said stitches formed by the horizontal needles and'the said longitudinal warp-threads. If the amount of travel of the weft-guide bar 0 was equal to the distance which the tubes 0' are set apart the result will now be that the several weftyarns in succession will form a single line, reaching entirely across the fabric, one yarn beginning where another terminates. If an irregular movement be given to the weft guide bar 0, a variation in the texture of the eseeee fabric may be made or by the use of colored yarn a variety of coloring may be introduced into the fabric by the same agency. I do not restrict myself to the precise arrangements of mechanism herein described. The timing of the operations of the vertical and horizontal needle-bars in their relation to each other is sometimes changed.

I claim- 1. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the vertical and horizontal needles 0 and D and the longitudinal Warp-guide bar G with the yarn-guide bar I, arranged to deliver a separate yarn to each of the vertical needles, the yarn-guide bar K, arranged to deliver a separate yarn to each of the horizontal needles, and mechanism for reciprocating said yarn-guide bars I and K.

2. The combination, with a needle-bar having lateral grooves for the reception of the needles and a longitudinal groove cut in one of its faces, of the dovetail piece or holder adapted to the longitudinal groove in the needle-bar, the set-screws in said dovetail piece, and the series of needles, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination of the needle-guide bar, its lateral grooves, the needles, and the needle-bar B, provided with tongue, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination of the driving-shaft E, the cam J, the levers E E and the adjustable connecting-links E E with the needle-bars 0 D the vertical cross-bars G, provided with the guideways g, and the horizontal crossbars H, provided with guideways h, substantial] y as hereinbefore set forth.

BENJAMIN L. STOWE. Witnesses:

FREDK. A. SToWE, JAMES SPoTroN. 

